Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"...some of the finest balladry this side of Neil Young's sideburns. His songs are littered with a stable of references about such luminary topics as Kris Kristofferson, garage sales, drinking and heartache. If Willie Nelson and Ron Sexsmith ever produced offspring, Chris would be the result." - Chartattack.com
Looking for an ideal soundtrack for rainy mornings, long drives in the dark, or lonely nights by yourself on a balcony with nothing to keep you company but a half-empty pack of du Maurier Lights and the horrifying realization of your own mortality? Okay, so maybe that last one is just for me, but if you are looking for a real pretty bunch of songs to keep you company this summer, that Kelly boy's debut album may be just what you're searching for.
The perfectly titled Lonely Lake is a beautiful, folkish, personal album that leaves the impression that Chris Kelly isn't so much singing his songs to you as he is through you. He captures the uncertainty and loneliness felt by so many people who have outlived the hyper optimism of their early twenties and begun to realize that - for better or for worse - life isn't necessarily going to turn out the way they had imagined. The disillusionment and fears that come with aging are poignantly expressed in lyrics such as "I look at others who seem to be my age and I don't get it/ cuz I feel like the kid I've always been" and "We feed each other dreams that can't come true/ Maybe we all drag each other down" from "An Underachiever's Anthem." Another theme that is addressed on Lonely Lake is that of loss. In the powerful "To See You Again," Kelly reduces the complicated issue of the longing that surrounds loss into the simple and touching request "to see you again/ to hear your laugh/ watch your grin/ feel your skin."
The combination of intensely reflective lyrics, Kelly's eloquent guitar playing, and collaborator Ryan Ogilvie's lovely moody accompaniment, encourages listeners to experience Lonely Lake rather than simply hear it. From the bittersweet nostalgie of "Kristofferson" to the engaging cover of Tom McLean's Nick Drake-flavoured "There You Were' to the hushed beauty of "Tuesday," Lonely Lake provides listeners with a subtle and atmospheric album befitting of its title. - Amanda Aikman - Culture Editor, The other Press
Discography
LP 2007
Lonely Lake (by That Kelly Boy - Copperspine Records - 2003)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Breezing off the west coast shores, relaxing in the downtown east-side in Vancouver's Chinatown is a musical hangout and a breadth of influential characters. These elements bond and the result is Pender.
Pender is the musical equivalent of Neil Young's Crazy Horse and Wilco having a potluck with Nirvana and Evan Dando. Its a gathering of influences of country through punk rock, 80s synth to brit pop beats and a side of grunge for good measure served on unpretentious white paper plates.
Named after the Vancouver street that's a backdrop for their musical and non-musical fun loving debauchery vocalist Chris Kelly, guitarist Ryan Ogilvie, drummer Brett Galliford, keyboardist Lara Farcasan and bassist Derrek Kittson sizzle through a casual set that turns any scene into a fun party.
Chris Kelly and Ryan Ogilvie formed That Kelly Boy in 2001 after the demise of their first band, Dorothy. That Kelly Boy showcased at New Music West and Canadian Music Week with stripped down sets that got back to basics much like the release of their first record Lonely Lake on Copperspine Records in 2002.
After a series of makeshift bands, mutual friends and social mixers, That Kelly Boy filled out with new members who transformed the sound into something completely new by the introduction of different influences brought on by the new members. Many barbecues later, Pender was solidified.
Pender's source of lyrical inspiration is diverse as well. Their collection of songs range from international laundry habits, the elderly boarding airplanes, and junkies at cash machines, semi-fictious relationships all with a sense of earnestly vulnerability uncommon in today's modern rock.
Take your ears to the streets and join the musical libations with Pender.
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